


Albatross, Crow, and Dove

by TheMipstaz



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Based on a Tumblr Post, Book Shop AU, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski are Soulmates, Established Relationship, F/F, Multi, Protective Malia, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Threesome - F/F/F, famous allison argent, kira is cute, malia is awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-13 01:33:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4502673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMipstaz/pseuds/TheMipstaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kira and Malia aren’t soulmates. They knew that when they started dating a few months ago, they knew that when they first met, and they knew that all through those first few weeks of awkward flirting in the bookstore where Kira works. It’s not something either of them let get in the way of their relationship, but things get more complicated when Allison Argent does a book signing at Beacon Books and all three of them are suddenly sporting matching soulmate tattoos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Albatross, Crow, and Dove

**Author's Note:**

> So I totally fell in love with [this AU](http://erikiras.tumblr.com/post/125373097643/teen-wolf-femslash-bingo-book-shop-au-kira) on Tumblr, so obviously I had to add to it. Originally posted on Tumblr [here](http://nevergooutofstiles.tumblr.com/post/125731526375/erikiras-teen-wolf-femslash-bingo-book).

So Malia has a problem. A fairly large one, if she does say so herself. And that problem is in the form of the unfairly attractive girl, all clumsy limbs and pretty red lips, shelving books about thirty feet away from her. Malia doesn’t even like bookstores—she personally thinks books are the spawn of the devil, but she’s found that unfortunately many people don’t share that opinion—yet here she is, pretending to read  _Nickel and Dimed_  by Barbara something or other because it was the closest thing to her when Cute Asian Girl looked over at her.

“Just ask her out already,” Stiles says as he saunters around the corner to find Malia mooning over the same girl from the last couple days.

He knew it was suspicious when Malia had started asking to tag along to Stiles’ occasional visits to Beacon Books, the small family-owned bookstore that his boyfriend and soulmate Derek both worked at and co-owned with his sister Laura. And once he saw Malia making heart eyes at the newest recruit Derek had hired, Stiles realized that she hadn’t just wanted to spend quality bonding time with him. That made a lot more sense.

“I can’t just ask her out,” hisses Malia, inconspicuously hiding behind her book and slouching lower in her chair. “We don’t even know each other. And we don’t even have matching soul marks.” Something lurches in Malia’s gut as she says this, inordinately upset at the veracity of it. She knows it’s stupid, that Cute Asian Girl clearly won’t be into her because they weren’t made for each other or whatever. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less that someone who makes Malia’s heart beat double time isn’t going to return her affections. Shaking away these depressing thoughts, she adds, “So stop talking so loud, she might hear us.”  

She absently scratches the pawprint shaped soul mark on her wrist. Her driver’s license says it’s specifically a coyote pawprint, but Malia has never figured out how anyone could tell. It just looks like any old dog paw to her. Either way, it’s miles different from the shuriken shaped mark on Cute Asian Girl’s wrist.

“Is Malia pining over Kira again?” asks Derek as he walks up behind them to wrap a loose arm around Stiles’ waist and peck him on the cheek. Malia makes sure to gag dramatically.

Stiles and Derek have known each other since Stiles was still in high school. Even though they waited until Stiles graduated to officially start dating, they’ve still been together longer than anyone Malia has ever known. They had agreed not to ask about soulmate marks, deciding that some random blemish on their skin shouldn’t be able to decide their whole future. She still remembers Stiles calling her up at 3 AM after he lost his virginity to scream in her ear, “He has a triskele on his ass!”

“You woke me up at fuck o’clock in the morning to tell me about your boyfriend’s ass,” Malia had growled groggily, still wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“No,” laughed Stiles, elated “I called you to tell you I found my freakin’ soulmate!”

And then Malia had finally remembered the spiraling soul mark etched onto Stiles’ shoulder blade. Now, she hates the pang of jealousy that sours her mouth.

“Yep,” Stiles grins, popping the P. “Personally, babe, I still think you should play wingman and tell Kira all about our awesome friend here.”

“If you do that, I’ll kill you in your sleep,” Malia snaps at Derek, who holds his hands up in surrender. “I just… We’re not soulmates or anything. What’s the point?”

“The point,” Derek says gently, “is that the whole soulmate thing is old fashioned and romanticized. Old people don’t like non-soulmate couples and Hollywood likes to make million dollar blockbusters about it, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put yourself out there anyways. You just might meet the love of your life.” He glances over at Stiles, eyes all soft and warm.

“You guys don’t count,” scowls Malia. “You turned out to actually be soulmates.”

“That’s not the point.” Stiles places a hand on Malia’s shoulder, face serious. “We just want you to be happy. And if you find that in someone who isn’t your soulmate, then who cares?”

“I’m scared,” Malia admits in a whisper. “I already really like her. I don’t want to fall even harder and then watch her leave when she finds her real soulmate.”

“I know it’s scary.” Stiles kneels down and takes Malia’s hands in his own. “But anything that makes your palms sweat and your heart feel like it’s about to beat out of your chest is worth the risk, got it? So here’s your chance.”

As he straightens up, Malia looks up to see Derek leading Kira over toward them. Malia gulps and turns towards Stiles, who gives an encouraging thumbs up.

“Um, hi.” Kira nervously pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, eyes flicking between the ground and Malia. “I’m Kira.”

Malia licks her lips, loving the flush of Kira’s cheeks and wanting to see how far down her body it goes. “I’m Malia. Do you want to, uh, go grab a coffee or something sometime?” She winces almost as soon as the words leave her mouth. What a lame come on. She’s such a loser.

But Kira just beams, eyes crinkling and whole being just radiant. “I, er, yeah. I’d like that. I get off in an hour.”

“Actually,” Stiles cuts in smoothly from where he and Derek have been watching from the sidelines, “Derek says you can leave early, right, Der?”

Derek frowns. “Stiles, there’s no one else who can cover—oof!”

“ _Right, Derek_?” Stiles repeats through gritted teeth, elbow still buried in Derek’s sternum.

“I got it, Kira,” wheezes Derek while Kira does her best impression of a deer caught in the headlights and Malia makes throat slashing gestures at Stiles. “You and Malia can go.”

“Uh, thanks,” squeaks Kira, face bright red. “You really don’t have to. I mean, I just started working here and—”

“And we’re leaving,” Malia interrupts, grabbing Kira’s hand and hauling her away from Stiles and his embarrassing victory dance. She can’t believe she associates herself with that idiot. From the mortified facepalm Derek’s sporting, she’s guessing he’s thinking the same thing.

All the same, Malia can’t hide her smile when Kira laces their fingers more tightly together.

* * *

Four months later and Malia still gets butterflies every time she looks at her girlfriend. This is ridiculous, she knows, and she should be gagging at herself, but somehow she can’t bring herself to care. Maybe it’s got something to do with the shy way Kira leans in before a kiss, letting Malia bridge the rest of the gap as if she wants to make sure Malia is okay with it every time. Or maybe it’s got something to do with way Kira likes to cuddle after sex, something Malia has never particularly been fond of. Who wants to mash themself up against a sweaty body covered in all sorts of bodily fluids? Apparently, the answer is Malia. She’s now the first one to reach across and pull Kira flush against her body, tangling their legs and pressing her nose to Kira’s neck.

In short, they’ve become the disgusting, cavity-inducing couple that Malia has always loathed. Ew, they’re like Stiles and Derek. And Malia gives zero fucks.

“Hey,” Malia says, propping herself against the cashier counter of Beacon Books, “you okay? You look more nervous than the day I asked you out.”

“Who me?” Kira gave a high, shaky laugh. “No way. Why would I be nervous? It’s not like my favorite author is coming to read and do a book signing today or anything. Yeah, I’m totally not freaking out.”

 _Oh yeah,_  Malia abruptly remembers. Kira had been constantly mentioning someone named Alice something or other for the last week or so, hadn’t she?

Suddenly the full parking lot and practically abandoned first floor makes a lot more sense; Beacon Books is never this crowded, even on a good day. The signing and reading must be happening upstairs.

“Calm down,” Malia soothes, reaching out to take one of Kira’s twitching hands. “You’re okay. You’ll be fine, alright?”

“I don’t think you understand the situation,” Kira protests. “The Allison Argent is gonna be here, Malia. What if I do something ridiculously embarrassing? Remember that one time at Stiles and Derek’s when I was so jumpy that I kept taking sips of my beer and I got so drunk I lifted their cat and started singing the Lion King song?”

Fighting to keep a straight face because the last thing Kira needed was someone laughing at her, Malia assured her, “There’s no alcohol here. Just take deep breaths.”

“Or remember when we were hanging out with Isaac and I—”

Leaning across the wood countertop, Malia crashed her lips against Kira’s, effectively shutting her up. At first, it’s a little bit too much clacking teeth, but soon Kira’s eyes flutter shut and she relaxes into the familiar taste of Malia’s mouth against hers. Malia reaches up to cup Kira’s cheek with one hand, pushing their foreheads together as they break apart.

“It’ll be fine,” mumbles Malia into the shared air they’re breathing. “I’ll be right here next to you. I won’t let you do anything too humiliating.”

Chuckling, Kira opens her eyes and playfully pushes Malia away. “Stop kissing me while I’m working. Just because we’re friends with the owner doesn’t mean Derek can’t fire—” She breaks off with a loud gasp before quickly slapping a hand over her mouth.

Whirling around, Malia expects to see Derek or even Laura and tries to act natural and not like she was making out with Kira. Only, she doesn’t see either of the Hales in sight. Instead, she sees a dark haired woman about her height walking through the store entrance. She’s all smooth, pale skin and curling, short brown hair. Her outfit is casual with sinfully tight jeans coupled with a simple tee, red lips are stretched in a friendly smile.

At the woman’s side is a short, but fiercely imposing redhead in a striking[ floral dress](http://hrodendaily.tumblr.com/post/123556315690/holland-roden-at-the-amfar-dinner-in-paris-france) and bright red lips. Her heels clack menacingly on the wood as they approach, followed by a flock of others who Malia can only assume are editors, publishers, and other important sounding people.

Not that she’s ever going to admit to Kira, who’s been spewing stuff about this nationally famous author all week, but Malia honestly has no idea which one is the author. She’s guessing it’s either the brunette or redhead leading the others.

She’s just placed her bets on the redhead when the brunette reaches the cash register and reaches them. “Hi,” she sneaks a peek at Kira’s employee name tag, “Kira, I was wondering if you knew where the book signing was being held.”

Malia sneakily scrutinizes Kira, not wanting to steal her girlfriend’s golden moment in case the brunette is someone important too even if she’s not the actual author. She knows this event is important to Kira even if Malia will never be able to comprehend why anyone would be so worked up over a stupid book.

But Kira’s just staring with a slack, open jaw and Malia is tempted to bang her head against a wall. She really wants to be a supportive girlfriend and say she wasn’t expecting this, except Malia 100% was.

Holding back a sigh, Malia replies, “Yeah, it’s upstairs.” If her voice is a little curt, it’s because she doesn’t like the way the brunette is eyeing Kira and batting her eyelashes.

“Thank you…?”

“Malia.”

“Oh, that’s a nice name,” says the brunette, turning her bedroom eyes on Malia and wow, that should not turn Malia on as much as it does. But, in her defense, the way the brunette’s eyelashes splay across her cheek is more attractive up close and that soft voice would sound so much better raspy and wrecked after Malia has eaten her out. And then the woman is walking away. The redhead is right behind her with a strange expression on her face.

Then, Malia casts a guilty glance toward Kira, unsure where these thoughts of infidelity have come from. Suddenly scared of her own impulses, Malia reaches desperately for Kira’s hand. It’s to reassure herself, but she’s not sure it works.

* * *

“Allison,” Lydia whispers once they’re safely out of earshot from the two women at the cash register and climbing the stairs, “Allison! Will you look at me?”

“What?” She stops halfway up and gestures to the half a dozen people behind them, “Jackson, Danny, you guys can all go on ahead. Me and Lydia will be up in a sec.”

“And don’t let Greenberg touch anything or we’ll never be invited back here again,” Lydia adds as everyone walks around them. “Okay,” she says accusingly once they’re alone, “what was that down there? I know you knew exactly where this thing was supposed to be. Was it to talk to the cute girls? Because usually people only try to flirt with one girl at a time, you know.”

“I… I’m not sure,” Allison confesses. “I just felt drawn to them, I guess. Both of them.”

Lydia narrows her eyes and contemplates the arrow shaped soul mark on her friend’s inner right wrist, the cogs in her mind spinning. But for now, she’s got nothing, so she decides to sleep on it. “Just because we don’t have time now doesn’t mean we won’t talk about this” she warns, starting to walk up the steps again.

“I know,” Allison sighs.

“But right now, we have more important things.” Lydia offers her friend a soft smile reminiscent of their days before Allison blew up as a YA novel author and Lydia found her calling in being her agent. “So go kill it.”

* * *

Needless to say, the book signing is a complete success. It’s all over social media—“We’re trending on Twitter, Derek!” “I have no idea what that means, Stiles.”—and celebrity news stations—“Why the hell is NPR here?” “What? NPR can’t like Allison Argent, Scott?” And Laura will not shut up about why haven’t they done something like this sooner?

Kira’s working the shift during it, but Stiles assures her that he and Scott together should be able to figure out how to work a cash register for a couple of hours. And if not, then Derek’s around somewhere. She thanks them profusely before joining Malia, who’s been informed by now which one is Miss Argent. Together on the outskirts of the crowd, they watch Allison and her retinue sign books, take pictures with people, and field question after question.

If someone asked Malia, she would’ve said it was possibly the most boring 2 hours of her life. But she enjoys that Kira is enjoying herself and prides herself in not saying a single negative thing while her girlfriend eats up every word Allison says.

While Kira is practically drooling over the author—and no, Malia’s not even a little jealous, shut up—Malia takes to boredly examining the whole tableau. That’s how, about ten minutes in, she notices the triangle tattoo-looking thing on Allison’s wrist. Only, it’s not a tattoo but a soulmark on the same wrist that she and Kira have theirs on.

 _What a strange coincidence_ , she muses to herself, squinting to get a better look. She soon realizes it’s an full arrow with a shaft and even fletching on the end, running horizontally across Allison’s wrist. She spends the rest of the time thumbing absently over her own soul mark and occasionally checking Allison out because hot damn. Okay, maybe more than occasionally, but it’s not her fault Malia has eyes and Allison is blinding them with her dimpled smile.

Once everything is winding down, Kira and Malia slip away back to the register to at least pretend Kira’s been working. And that’s where Allison finds them not ten minutes later: Malia laughing while Kira chastises her girlfriend for knocking over the little keychain and bookmark holder yet  _again_.

Kira lets out a very womanly squeal—Malia idly wonders when that is going to stop being a reflex—and one of the plastic, fox-shaped keychains goes skittering off the counter to the floor.

“I got it,” Allison says in amusement at the same time Malia bends down to retrieve the trinket herself.

Their fingers brush and lightning jolts through Malia. Gasping in surprise, she jerks her hand back and glances up to stare into Allison’s wide brown gaze. Their faces are inches apart and she can see every one of Allison’s eyelashes framing her shocked eye, gaze flicking down to Allison’s rosy mouth. Iif Malia just leaned in a bit more, they would be kissing.

And then the moment is shattered with Kira’s timorous, “Malia? Malia, what’s happening?”

She’s up in a flash and at Kira’s side to peer down at where Kira’s holding her right wrist. “What the hell?” whispers Malia, unable to tear her eyes away because where Kira’s shuriken soul mark should be is something entirely new. “Is that a bird?”

“It kind of looks like a whale tail if you squint,” Kira points out helpfully. “Let me see yours.”

Turning her own arm over, Malia is astonished to see her coyote print gone. Instead, the outline of a bird in flight is etched onto her own skin: not an exact imitation of Kira’s, but close enough that they’re obviously meant to be a set.

“Do you guys have one too?” asks Allison from across the counter. She holds up her arm to display yet another bird soul mark. “Mine used to be—”

“An arrow,” finishes Malia. “Mine was a pawprint and Kira’s was a ninja star. But they changed.”

Kira breathes softly, like she can’t believe her eyes, “They match now.” It’s not like polyamorous soul marks have never been discovered before, but they’re considered an anomaly. Even people who preach the traditional “all couples should be soulmates” schtick are reluctant to condone poly soul marks.

“Allison,” calls the redhead— _Lydia_ , Malia remembers—as she comes down the stairs, “are you ready to go? We have two more stops today, don’t forget.”

Kira shoots Malia a panicked look in a silent, “We just found out we have a threeway soul mark with a famous author, what the fuck do we do?”

Offering an apologetic smile, Allison quickly says, “Sorry, I have to run, but here’s my number.” She hurriedly scribbles it on the back of one of the “you’re #1 in my book!” bookmarks. “Call me?”

Normally, Malia would be affronted. Fame and matching soul marks be damned, how dare this woman just barely learn their names today, run off, and expect to be called by either of them. But somehow the pleading desperation in Allison’s eyes and the clicking of Lydia’s heels closing in on them undermine Malia’s initial annoyance. She nods.

And then Allison is being whisked away by an unstoppable storm in human skin that is Lydia, leaving Malia and Kira both blinking at each other. The number is still clutched tightly in Kira’s hand.

“Malia, did we just get asked out by a celebrity author?”

“Yeah, I think we did.”

* * *

_Ring_.

“Is this a bad idea?”

 _Ring_.

“Well, it’s too late now, Kira. You already dialed her.”

 _Ring_.

“Wait, I think this is a bad idea. Quick hang up the—”

“Hello?”

After Kira spends a good five seconds frantically mouthing, “What do I do?,” Malia yanks the phone out of her hand and smoothly says, “Hi, is this Allison?”

“Yes,” the voice on the other side answers cautiously. “Who is this?”

Clicking the speaker button so Kira can hear without smushing the side of her face to the back of the phone, Malia replies, “It’s, uh, Malia and Kira from the other day.”

“Will she remember us?” whispers Kira. Malia’s heart aches at the hopefulness in her tone warring with the fear that it was all a dream. It would be hard to go back to just the two of them after glimpsing just a taste of what they could, of what Allison had offered. Malia knows because she feels it too.

So when Allison chuckles and says, “Of course, I remember you,” Malia slumps in relief against Kira, who muffles a shriek of excitement in Malia’s shoulder. They grip each other’s hands tightly.

“Hi,” grins Kira breathlessly, eyes shining. “Um, so what’s up?”

“Not much,” Allison’s tinny voice responds. “I mean, I love the east coast, but I miss Cali.”

“East coast?” Kira asks in confusion.

“Oh yeah, the day after we met, I had to fly over to New York for a panel and another signing. Lydia’s got me on a really tight schedule.”

“Wow,” Kira says, awed. “We’ve never been to New York. Or the east coast, like, at all. One time we went down to Mexico though.”

Allison laughs and promises, “I’ll take you guys sometime. It’s a great city. You’ll love it.”

“So,” Malia interjects, “we’re… We’re doing this then? All three of us, we’re gonna try?”

“I hope so,” answers Allison sincerely. “I really want to.”

“So do I,” agrees Kira, bumping shoulders amicably with Malia.

But Malia’s voice stays hard and wary. “When are you coming back? I don’t want to start something that you can’t finish. That’s not fair to any of us.” Malia would never forgive herself if she let Kira get any deeper than she already is only to have Allison bail on them halfway through. Her girlfriend deserves more than getting her heartbroken by some celebrity who finds someone better along the way.

Kira studies Malia silently, face calculating.

Allison’s quiet for a while and Malia feels her throat constrict. “I’m booked until summer. I think the end of June is the end of my book tour, but I’ll see if I can convince Lydia to let me out earlier. I want this to work, Malia. I really do.”

“Two months,” Malia says finally. It’s actually not as bad as she was expecting. Allison’s book exploded across the nation, the kind of singular success stories that budding writers everywhere dream of. Malia honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it became a movie in a year or two. Malia shares a look with Kira, who nods encouragingly. “We can wait two months.”

“You can?” Allison releases a worried breath she doesn’t even remember holding.

“Yeah.” Kira hides a thrilled smile against Malia’ neck.

“Then June 29th?”

“It’s a date.”

* * *

Allison initially wants to take them all bowling, but then Malia asks if she’s got two brain cells to rub together because who wants paparazzis taking a million pictures of them every second of their first date? Instead, Malia announces they’re going hiking. Kira just apologizes for Malia’s seeming lack of manners—“We’re working on it.”—and asks Allison if she minds hiking.

“This was a good idea,” Allison smiles as the three of them crest the hill they’ve been climbing, a little dirty and a little sweaty.

“My ideas are always good,” replies Malia smugly as Kira rolls her eyes.

The sun is bright and shining, bathing their skin golden as a soft breeze ruffles their hair. The air smells fresh and Kira lets out a jubilant laugh as she sees the ripplings waves of prairie grass stretching before them. She runs ahead of the other two, arms outstretched as if she could just close her eyes and take off into the air like the albatross soul mark on her wrist.

Deaton checked out Kira and Malia’s new soul marks, identifying them as an albatross and crow respectively. Later, Allison told them hers had been proclaimed a dove. Deaton assured them that just because their soul marks had changed didn’t belie the significance at all. “The world just realized a little late that the three of you are meant to be together.”

Now, Allison takes a moment to smile Malia, who’s taken out her phone to film Kira’s antics. Fondness softens her features, delight pulling at the corner of her mouth. It’s one of the few times Malia hasn’t been guarded around Allison for the entire hike and she plans to savor it. Kira is a lot more open and willing toward Allison, laughing and joking while Malia has held herself apart. But the way Malia looks at Kira, like Kira hung the moon, gives Allison hope that she can reach that too.

“You really love her, huh?”

Saving the video to upload later, Malia doesn’t look up from her screen. “More than you’ll ever know.”

“Will you ever love me like that?”

Malia stops tapping at her phone. “I’m scared I will.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Allison says, trying to keep the bitterness out of her tone. She’s truly had fun with them today, but it’s discouraging to see Malia still keep her at arm’s length.

“You don’t understand how hard this is for us!” shouts Malia, finally reaching her breaking point.

“Then tell me how to make it better!” Allison snaps back. “I’m trying my best, but you keep pushing me away. Kira’s seems fine. You’re the only one who’s making things difficult.”  Hearing the raised voices, Kira starts to make her way back, face concerned.

“You’re this big-shot, famous, rich celebrity who’s got girls lining the street,” growls Malia. “I just don’t want Kira to fall so hard for you that when you find someone better or get bored of us she gets her heart broken.”

“Malia—” Kira starts, but it cut off.

“Are you talking about Kira or are you talking about yourself?” asks Allison quietly.

Malia’s jaw snaps shut with an audible click.

“Look, I know this is scary as hell.” Allison reaches for one of Malia’s shaking hands, folding them within her own. Kira intertwines her fingers with Malia’s other hand. “But do you see this?” She taps a finger on her dove soul mark. “And these?” She nods towards Kira’s albatross and Malia’s crow. “They are my promise to you that  _us_ ,” Allison reaches for Kira’s free hand, “we’re gonna make it. For some crazy reason the world has decided that the three of us belong together even if it seems impossible right now. Don’t you want to find out why?”

Kira squeezes Malia’s hand reassuringly.

“I do.” It’s punched out Malia after being held in for so long. “I want it so much.”

“So do I.” And then Allison’s lips are hovering hesitantly over her own and Malia rushes forward to slot their mouths together. It’s like the lightning from the first time they touched, but sweeter and spreading warmth all the way down to her toes. A soft hand is tangling in Malia’s hair for a moment before they pull back, cheeks flushed. The sun silhouettes Allison’s head, giving her a golden halo.

“Wow, so that was pretty hot,” Kira says dazedly. “I’m totally down with this poly thing.”

Malia’s laugh echoes loudly in the air, surfing the wind currents and gliding away like a bird who’s found its wings.


End file.
